LINDEN -- A state appeals court has barred a retrial of a city man on reckless manslaughter charges arising out of a barroom fight during which another city man was shot and killed in 2006.

A two-judge panel on Wednesday ruled that retrying Scott Munroe on the manslaughter charge and an assault with a deadly weapon count would re-litigate a matter already decided. Munroe had previously been acquitted of related weapons possession charges.

“You have to possess in order to use,” said his attorney, Kevin G. Roe. “In order to be convicted of manslaughter, you have, of necessity, to have the weapon.”

Munroe, now 36, was tried in 2008 on charges of murder and aggravated manslaughter and 17 other counts following the shooting death of Naji Hall, 23.

Hall, a Linden man with a wife and child, was said to have been an innocent bystander. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The jury acquitted Munroe of nearly all charges, including of attempted murder for the shooting of three others wounded during the melee. The jury, though, deadlocked on charges of reckless manslaughter and negligent assault with a deadly weapon.

The Union County prosecutor, Theodore J. Romankow, sought a retrial. Munroe’s attorneys, though, determined that further prosecution would violate state and federal constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy and a legal doctrine known as collateral estoppel.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said attorneys there are reviewing the decision. “At this point, no determination has been made as to whether we will seek review by the New Jersey Supreme Court,” spokesman John Holl, said.

According to a police account, the brawl began around 2:30 a.m., starting as a fistfight among several patrons, including Munroe, inside crowded Nuno’s Pavilion, a popular Roselle Avenue bar and banquet hall. Gunfire erupted shortly afterward, scattering scores of patrons into the street. Munroe was among four people wounded in the shootings.

Evidence indicated that only one gun was used during the shootings, and ownership of that gun was never established, Roe said.

Jurors based their verdict in part after viewing high-definition video of the brawl, said Munroe’s co-counsel, Adamo Ferreira.

Munroe served nearly two years in jail until he posted reduced bail following his acquittal at trial court, Ferreira said.